How to Avoid Obliteration

At an important committee meeting recently, I marveled at how the board chair inspired the participants not with a perfunctory prayer—but with a planning prayer.

Instead of downloading some trite feel-good story from the Internet, this board chair did the hard work and found the perfect thought and prayer on the planning process. It fit the time and place—hand in glove.

In a blog post last year I referenced Richard Kriegbaum’s wonderful book, Leadership Prayers, and the “Prayer for Competence.”  

This board chair also appreciates Kriegbaum’s powerful prayers and launched the meeting with the “Planning” prayer:

“Show me your way for us, God. In all the data, there are patterns I must see.  Among the many indicators, there are wise directions I must choose. By your grace I must peer through the foggy confusion and glimpse the light glimmering far ahead. Help me to choose the right path and head toward the right marker. 

If I am wrong, 

we could be obliterated. 

Guide me.

“Wisdom alone will not automatically make our plans easy to adopt or implement. Inevitably, wise planning will require us to act before it is completely apparent that we need to do so. For most of us, that will be hard to do, and it will be frightening for some. The comfort and security of the present that we worked so hard to create will try to seduce us. Nostalgia for our past will tempt us to stay there. Help me instill a longing for our future the way you see it. Carry us forward, God.

“Help us to let go of the present we worked so hard for, the present we asked you for, so that we may embrace a new and better future. Prepare us to accept some chaos in the short run in order to make things better in the long run, to take resources that could feed our present strengths and current welfare and risk them an uncertain future.

“As the leader, I speak for the future, and I love planning to get there. But this is very painful and threatening for some. Help me use the planning process to bring them along. Give me planning wisdom, God.

“Help us to move fast enough to reach our best future in time for it to matter. But let us move wisely enough that we can all stay together. Our inheritance lies yet ahead. Oh, God, help us claim it. I am looking for your guiding light.

“God of our future, show me your way. Make our plans wise.”

The prayer concludes with this encouragement from Jeremiah 29:11:

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. 

‘They are plans for good and not for disaster,
to give you a future and a hope.’”

QUESTION: On the planning process continuum between “foggy confusion” (and perhaps obliteration) and God’s guiding light…where is your organization? How actively does your board and senior team spiritually discern God’s direction?

Nice Farewell Dinner, But Where’s My Plaque?

It’s not if your CEO exits some day, but when.

Whether your current CEO is your ministry’s founder with years of faithful service, or just one of a parade of capable CEOs who will serve your organization (5, 10 or 15 years perhaps), CEOs all have one thing in common—unique and differing expectations on how the board says goodbye when that time comes.

Board members also have unique and differing expectations on how to honor an exiting CEO, sometimes based on the circumstances of the departure.  But even in the best of situations, whether for retirement (“Job well done!”) or by God’s sovereign call on the CEO to serve at another ministry (“We’ll miss you—but we bless you!”), I frequently hear from departing CEOs that the farewell event or process rarely rings the bell.

So what’s the problem? Are CEOs’ expectations too high? Is it an ego thing?  Are some board members tone deaf?

Perhaps men and women on those boards have not experienced memorable farewells themselves. “Thanks, Charlie! Here’s a watch. Dessert will be served after we watch this commemorative video my junior high kid put together.”

Once, when debriefing an annual “360” review of their CEO, I asked the executive committee members if they knew the preferred love language of their CEO. They laughed—but then took it very seriously and later discerned how their CEO could sense on-going love and affirmation from the board.  

You’ve likely read Gary Chapman’s books on the five love languages, which include: 1) Words of affirmation, 2) Acts of service, 3) Receiving gifts, 4) Quality time, and 5) Physical touch.

My hunch: a CEO who was less than thrilled with his or her send-off was probably honored in some way by the board, but just with the wrong love language. 

Example: some years back, a retiring CEO with a long and appreciated tenure was duly honored at a large gathering. Glowing tributes filled the program. Yet, months later, he confided to me, 

“John, they didn’t give me a plaque.
Can you believe it? There was no plaque!”

I felt empathy for this faithful solider.  He didn’t serve the cause of Christ to get a plaque, but for him, a plaque would have been the perfect love language.

QUESTION: What is your CEO’s love language—and how do you regularly express appreciation to him or her?

Before We Adjourn…Any Apologies Needed?

What would be on your Top-5 list of “Distinctives of Christ-centered Governance?”

Certainly on my list would be this:

“Every board member faithfully responds
to the Holy Spirit’s nudges and never exits
a board meeting if a relationship is out of whack.”

Whenever Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church (an ECFA-accredited church) speaks, the room goes quiet.  In his book, The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God. Having the Guts to Respond (read my review), he shares a transparent board story.

At the end of a Willow Creek elders meeting, “in typical fashion the chairman of our board led us in a quick assessment of our demeanor and participation that evening. He asked, ‘Does anybody need to make amends for anything, clarify a point or apologize for a wrongdoing of any kind?’”

Hybels raised his hand—and his credibility—by confessing a playful, but inappropriate comment made earlier to a new elder.  The elder was not offended and knew Bill was joking.

Yet this from Hybels: “I got a subtle flag in my spirit after I made that wisecrack,” he admitted, “so I want to stick with the apology and ask your forgiveness here tonight.”

That’s just one of dozens of gems that eloquently illustrate the book’s title. And for me, that would rank on my Top-5 list of what distinguishes Christ-centered governance from the let’s-just-get-this-meeting-over-with garden variety type of boards.  

The personal transparency that is a Hybels trademark has helped fuel this remarkable leader's effectiveness. As I write this blog, this weekend marks the 38th anniversary of Willow Creek Community Church and his leadership of the global kingdom impact of the church and Willow Creek Association.

QUESTION: If an outside observer evaluated your last board meeting—what would he or she describe as the defining characteristics of your governance? Would they be Christ-centered?

Your Greatest Need: Money or Discernment?

Recently a ministry CEO asked me to suggest 10 options for a pre-retreat reading assignment.  My list ranged from books by Jim Collins to Harvard Business Review articles to a poke-in-the-heart spiritual discernment book.

The board chair and CEO picked the poke-in-the-heart book, Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups, by Ruth Haley Barton (read my review here). Board members and senior team members read the book, made notes on a “Read & Review” five-page worksheet, and—get this—brought both their brains and their hearts to the strategic planning retreat.

I trumpeted this book here in July, so if you missed that blog, I urge you to dig deeper as you inspire your board to move from decision-making to discernment. Barton’s book is jam-packed with insight and practical tools to equip boards and leadership teams to hear from God and to do his will. She writes:

“Have you ever been part of a meeting in which people were so tired that they made a decision just so they could go home? Have you ever participated in a decision-making process knowing that you were resorting to ‘sloppy desperation’ just because you were exhausted?”

You’ll appreciate the been there/done that elephant-in-the-room stories—and how a spiritual discernment process can lead you to a healthy culture. Barton will inspire you—and give you tools—for the priority task of discerning your board’s values. Her ten guidelines for “entering into and maintaining a listening posture” are both brilliant and practical. You’ll want to laminate the list and bring it to every meeting. 

Hey, Hank! Read No. 3 again! 

“DO NOT INTERRUPT!” 

Share these listening guidelines at your next board meeting:
2. “Listen to others with your entire self (senses, feelings, intuition, imagination and rational faculties).”
3. “Do not interrupt.”
4. “Pause between speakers to absorb what has been said.”
5. “Do not formulate what you want to say while someone else is speaking.”
9. “Leave space for anyone who may want to speak a first time before speaking a second time yourself.”

The 10 guidelines are listed on page 207 of this remarkable book.

At this recent retreat, I was privileged to facilitate a process with men and women whose hearts were prepared—even hungry—for unity and direction. God honored their hearts’ desires.

QUESTION: What’s the most important need in our ministry right now? Raising money to do our work or discerning what work God wants us to do?

Encouragement: Oxygen to the Soul

At a recent board meeting, the CEO asked a provocative question:

“How can you tell if a guy 

(or gal) needs encouragement?”

Answer: “He’s breathing!”

I’m using that one in a PowerPoint next week. It’s brilliant and profound! 

Not every CEO, not every board member, has the spiritual gift of encouragement—but every CEO and board member needs encouragement!

So effective boards are always looking for potential board members who are encouragers. According to Bruce Bugbee, the spiritual gift of encouragement is “the divine enablement to present truth so as to strengthen, comfort or urge to action those who are discouraged or wavering in their faith.”

Today, for a moment, let’s just set aside the dozens of demands that boards and CEOs are facing—and just remind ourselves that a little encouragement goes a long ways.  My friend Bob Kelly included these gems on encouragement in his handsome coffee table book, The Best of Success: A Treasury of Inspiration.  Share them at your next board meeting:

• “We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement. Encouragement is oxygen to the soul. The days are always dark enough. There is no need for us to emphasize the fact by spreading further gloom.” (George Matthew Adams)

• “People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be—not what you nag them to be.” (Scudder N. Parker)

• “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.” (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

There are dozens of ways to encourage your CEO and your board members: birthday cards, notes to spouses, Starbucks gift cards, phone calls, completing assignments early, arriving at meetings early to leverage relational time, answering emails within 24 hours, prayer, high fives for faithfulness. (You can add to the list.)

A friend of mine just blessed-the-socks-off a pastor and his wife by giving them a week's vacation in Hawaii, including airfare. Wow! That's encouragement!

Not every person appreciates the same kind of encouragement—so become a student of your CEO and your board members and bless them with customized encouragement.  

“So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.” (I Thessalonians 5:11, The Message)

QUESTION: How can your board be more intentional about encouraging your CEO?

Micromanaging Board Members: Ego Satisfaction?

Have you ever considered that a board member's temptation to micromanage might be related to ego satisfaction? At the heart of Christ-centered governance is the heart—not policies, organizational charts, strategic plans or cool logos. Let me explain. 

A week doesn't fly by without a CEO or board member calling or emailing me: “How do I inspire board members to focus on policy and the big stuff versus micromanaging the operational stuff?”

William Bowen, former Princeton University president says, 

“Finding the appropriate balance 

between executive authority and board oversight 

is more likely to require strengthening the hand of the CEO 

than building up the powers of the board.”  

I recently discovered that insight and other savvy one-liners in a helpful book, Policy vs. Paper Clips: How Using the Corporate Model Makes a Nonprofit Board More Efficient & Effective (3rd Edition), by Eugene H. Fram with Vicki Brown. (Click on the title for my full  review.)

Much of what happens in the boardroom (nonprofit and corporate) is highly dysfunctional (perhaps even sinful?). In my opinion, 

most governance fuzziness 

emanates from unvoiced assumptions 

about the board's role and the CEO's role

—and perhaps, competing egos.

Role clarity should always prompt a discussion about governance models: the Hands-on model, John Carver's Policy Governance model, the Board Policies Manual tool, and other options.  

Fram's book—with a very unique writing style—will help clarify board roles and responsibilities. The author begins with the key question: what's Job #1 for a board? 

He says the most important job of the board is “to find the best possible person to manage the organization, then stand back and let that person manage.” Fram has more wisdom:

“Volunteer directors who micromanage their agencies are, in blunt terms, cost centers for nonprofits, since they affect staff time so dramatically.” (Preach it!)

“Good governance helps eliminate the many hidden costs associated with pursuing activities that have nothing to do with the organization's purpose.” (Amen!)

“Your board should not be primarily focused on outcomes 

(e.g. success of specific programs) but concerned more 

about assessing the 'impacts' of those outcomes.”

Fram adds, “Separating operational and policy issues is more complicated than it sounds.” 

He mentions two board sins, analysis paralysis and rubber-stamping. His solution? Use the “Corporate Model” to focus the board on policy, not operations.  The book's format: a quick-reading email dialogue between two friends eliminates the typical boring governance book rhetoric (yada, yada, yada) and replaces the blue sky stuff with in-the-trenches, to-the-point conversation and thoughtful next steps.  

In one email exchange, the rookie board member asks, “We also need more information about how to keep board members truly involved without the ego satisfaction that often comes from dealing with operational issues.”  

So...here's my question again: Have you ever considered that a board member's temptation to micromanage might be related to ego satisfaction? 

In the powerful book, Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations With 30 Leadership Greats, by George Barna with Bill Dallas, they quote Miles McPherson: “One way to get a healthy culture is to hire healthy people.” We would add, 

“One way to get a healthy board 

is to recruit healthy people.” 

The Four Spiritual Laws (now Would You Like to Know God Personally?) describe this fork-in-the-road issue: “self is on the throne” versus “Christ is on the throne” of your life. You want the latter on your board.

QUESTION: What drives your board's actions: ego satisfaction from micromanaging or ensuring that Christ is on the throne for each board member—and then, as a group, spiritually discerning his voice?

The Last Time We Evaluated Our CEO? How About Never!

It's time to demystify the board's role in evaluating the CEO.

When I ask board members or CEOs about the annual performance review of the CEO, the reluctant responses run the continuum:

• “We did a review three years ago, but it didn't go well.”
• “The Board Policies Manual says the Governance Committee should conduct the annual evaluation—but no one knows how to do it.”
• “Our board chair takes the CEO out for lunch—and uses the annual review forms from her company's HR department.”
• “We pray for our CEO and speak the truth in love, but we don't have a formal process.”

Every governance resource lists some variation of “supporting and evaluating the CEO” as one of the primary responsibilities of a well-functioning board.  Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards: The Companion Workbook, published by BoardSource, suggests, 

“The annual review should be a formal, written process that centers primarily on the annual goals mutually and previously 

agreed upon by your board and the chief executive.”

Aha! That's the reason so many boards fail to conduct annual evaluations of their CEOs—no annual goals!  

Try this pop quiz at your next board meeting: “OK, everyone stand.  I have a Starbucks card for the last board member standing.  Now...if you can name two of our CEO's annual S.M.A.R.T. goals that are written, approved by the board, and recorded in our minutes...remain standing.”

Trust me—the last person standing will be you, 

and you will keep the Starbucks card.

So what to do?  If you're not already annually evaluating CEO performance, agree on the process. Consult the literature on why and how, including Rebekah Burch Basinger's excellent six-page resource for theological schools, “The Board's Responsibility for Evaluating the President.”  Then ensure that the agreed-upon goals meet the S.M.A.R.T. test: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-related.

Basinger suggests a four-step process: 1) Establish a committee to manage the presidential evaluation, 2) Set criteria for the evaluation, 3) Gather input, and 4) Discuss the findings with the president (in a face-to-face meeting, followed by a written review and summary).

She adds, 

“The best evaluations encourage presidents 

to think deeply about their own vocational satisfaction.”

Imagine a board that thoughtfully and prayerfully, in a God-honoring way, encourages, supports and blesses the CEO with helpful and frank feedback—so he or she will leverage their God-given strengths, spirituals gifts and leadership style to the glory of God and Kingdom advancement!

QUESTION: What is your board's process for annually evaluating your CEO?